Can somebody talk me through the different requirements for paed nursing degrees and different ways into paed nursing

[Untang13d]

Not my sector and there seem to be so many different routes.

Dd is currently at a grammar and studying 3 Alevels but has been poorly and in and out of hospital the past 2 years. Wants to do paed nursing and there seem to be so many different ways in. 3 Alevels, 2 Alevels, BTec, foundation, combination…..

Will be retaking year 12 but trying to get my head round what would be the best option

I imagine different unis ask for different education requirements however there is an alternative route into nursing via apprenticeship scheme. My hospital is doing this for health care assistants with no experience. You can then progress to a nurse associate degree 2 year programme and move on to nursing degree from there 2 further years I think. My hospital only does this for adults but we only have 1 children's ward. I imagine bigger centres would do specifically for pads. Just another option. Is she able to get some experience of nursing adult or paeds prior to applying? This is massively beneficial to being successful in getting on the course and coping with it as it goes.

How do you get tha experiencet? Sounds ideal. Volunteering has been suggested as beneficial to dd. She is 17. Was wondering about reducing Alevels to 2 and volunteering the rest of the time but does that put more pressure on the grades? Then was looking BTecs but don’t know anything about them .

Unless DD has an EHCP, or an unusual sixth form, she most likely won’t be allowed to drop to 2 A levels due to funding. She would no longer be classed as a full time student.

For volunteering look at the hospitals within travelling distance, special schools. Even care homes or scouts/guides. Due to the pandemic some universities are not expecting applicants to have relevant volunteering at the moment.

My hospital has a volunteer programme for students at sixth form. Worth asking. Also when she is 18 she can look at joining as hca on the bank NHS professionals in some trusts. That's in at the deep end care experience though.not for the faint hearted.

She needs to do three Level 3 qualifications ideally, they can be a mix of A Level and BTEC qualifications but some unis ask for A Level Bio so she might want to keep that in the mix.

She can then take either a straight undergrad degree or one with a foundation year if her grades are lower - but there aren’t as many of these as straight undergrad courses. 2 A Levels will really limit her options so I’d suggest trying to do three L3 qualifications if at all possible.

Experience wise, once she’s feeling better she could look at:

• widening participation healthcare events
• formal work experience placements at hospitals
• NHS cadets programmes
• volunteering roles at different hospitals or care facilities
• online MOOCs
• further reading around the areas, or podcasts
• online or in person public lectures
• contacting paeds nurses to see if they’re free for a chat or offer shadowing
• keeping up to date with current issues

But also, if she’s got a lot of personal experience she can bring this in too.

There are apprenticeship routes, you should contact your local hospital trusts to see if they’re offered and what the timescales are.